


Freefall

by PeoplexLikexGrapes



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Drug Abuse, F/F, F/M, For The Moment, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Recreational Drug Use, Underage Drinking, everyone is okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2019-10-24 08:02:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17700551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeoplexLikexGrapes/pseuds/PeoplexLikexGrapes
Summary: Most people would say that Andreas had it all at Blackwell. Rich parents, one of the top dogs in the Vortex club, and a British accent for the ladies to swoon over (citation needed). But something sinister is stirring in Arcadia Bay, and with Nathan starting to act more erratically, as well as having to deal with a missing classmate, things might end up spiralling downwards quickly for Andreas. And what is with that new girl Max Caulfield?





	1. Vortex

**Author's Note:**

> Wow okay, my first story on AO3, and it’s not a RWBY one! I have to admit that I haven’t played Before the Storm, so while I’ll try and stay consistent with the important elements of it, I can’t guarantee this fic will follow everything. Also, this is actually the first time I've written any sort of fanfiction for more than two years, so I'm just getting back into the groove of things really. You might have to bear with me until I do lol. Also, I know that OC stories aren't always that great but I just had this idea and I just kind of want to see where it goes, so I'd really appreciate any feedback!

Andreas took a deep breath as he stepped outside the Prescott manor. The party was still in full swing, but he could already feel himself coming down from his high. He fumbled inside his pockets for a cigarette and his lighter. As he lit one and took a long drag, he heard footsteps coming out from behind him, and he turned to see Nathan walking up to him, his signature red jacket tied around his waist, stopping when the two lads were standing side by side.

“Taylor’s looking for you,” said the Prescott nonchalantly.

“I’m gonna head back in a few minutes, I just needed some fresh air,” replied Andreas, offering a cig to Nathan, who accepted with a nod and took out his own lighter.

“So, to get fresh air, you’re smoking a cigarette?” Nathan asked, eyebrow raised with a wry smile.

“Smartarse,” scoffed Andreas.

There was a comfortable silence between the two boys as they finished off their smokes. The pounding bassline coming from inside the Prescott manor was muffled by the closed door. Andreas flicked his cigarette to the ground, before running a hand through his thick, long brown hair.

“So, when does shithead get back from his business trip?” asked Andreas, turning to face Nathan.

If it had been anyone else other than Andreas or Victoria that had referred to Sean Prescott as ‘shithead’, they would have surely gotten a verbal beating from the younger Prescott, but Nathan just laughed harshly.

“He’s back this weekend,” replied Nathan, not making eye contact with Andreas. He seemed a little tense. “He called me earlier to tell me he had ‘something special’ lined up for me.”

Andreas raised an eyebrow. He had a hunch that the ‘something special’ was just something that would benefit the Prescotts without giving a damn about Nathan’s personal needs.

“Did he say what it was?”

“Something about my photography,” muttered Nathan, kicking at the ground with the toe of his shoes. “Said he was gonna introduce me to someone who could help me with it.”

“That… doesn’t actually sound too bad,” said Andreas cautiously. It surprised him that Sean Prescott had actually done something which took his son’s interests into account. Nathan was a talented photographer, and Andreas admired his work, even though he didn’t really understand photography that well, and Nathan’s work was sometimes a little dark.

“I don’t _need_ anyone to help me,” snapped Nathan, his voice much louder than earlier. “I’m so _sick_ of people treating me like I’m sort of moron who can’t do anything on his own!”

Andreas frowned. It was almost unsettling how easily riled up Nathan could get, and every time it happened it hurt him to see his friend having to deal with such anger and pain. “Nate…”

“Shit… sorry,” said Nathan, voice lowering once again when he took in his friend’s expression, losing the anger that he had spoken with just seconds ago. “I just…”

Andreas put a hand gently on Nathan’s shoulder. “I get it Nathan. I do,” he said sympathetically. “But I want to help you because you’re one of my best mates, and I care about you, not because of some sort of pity.”

He could see a ghost of a smile form on Nathan’s lips. “That sounds pretty gay, ‘ _mate_ ’,” snarked the Prescott, trying his best to imitate Andreas’ British accent.

Andreas snorted loudly. “You wish dude.”

Casual minor homophobia aside, he was glad to see Nathan back to a better mood. It also reminded him that his girlfriend was waiting for him back inside the party. “But sadly, I’m already taken, too bad for you Nate,” he said, before turning around to head back inside.

“Fuck you man,” said Nathan, with no real maliciousness.

“Once again, you wish,” laughed Andreas as Nathan flipped the bird at him. “And happy birthday!”

He pushed the big wooden door open and almost immediately he was bombarded with loud techno music and the sight of several drunk/high teenagers making out in the front room of the Prescott Manor. He made his way over to the large living room, having to step over what looked like Dana Ward and Logan Robertson rolling around on the floor, tongues in mouths.

Andreas entered the room, the music getting more and more intense, and bright strobe lights causing him to wince as he made his way over to the DJ deck. As he got closer, he spotted the long blonde locks of his girlfriend of six weeks, Taylor Christensen. She was dancing in a triangle with Victoria and Courtney.

Taylor had her back turned to Andreas, so when he went up behind her and hugged her from behind, she jumped and let out a little shriek.

“Hey darling,” said Andreas into her ear, nuzzling his girlfriend’s neck and taking in the vanilla scent of her hair.

“Oh my God Andreas, don’t do that!” Taylor exclaimed, having to shout over the volume of the music.

Andreas let his grip loosen enough for her to turn around so the two were now facing each other.

“Hey, you didn’t miss me at all?”

He could see Taylor trying not to smile as he stared into her bright blue eyes.

“Maybe a little bit…” said Taylor, breaking eye contact and stepping backwards out of his arms. She bit her lip and smirked and, in that moment, to Andreas she was the sexiest thing in the world.

“Oh my god, you two! Either get a room or dance!”

Andreas laughed at Victoria’s jab, before reaching into his jean pocket and pulling out his wallet. He opened one of the compartments and took out a pill.

“You’re dropping another one already?” exclaimed Courtney, her shrill voice fairly audible over the throbbing bass.

“I’m already coming down from my first pill,” he explained, putting his wallet back in his pocket.

Victoria then held out a water bottle toward Andreas, which he gratefully took.

“Stay hydrated so you don’t die.”

“Cheer Vic,” said Andreas, laughing at her bluntness. He popped the pill in his mouth, and then unscrewed the water and took a long swig of water.

“And now we wait for the come up!” he exclaimed, leading to Taylor and Courtney letting out a cheer.

Andreas was going to have a good time tonight.                                                             

 

 

* * *

 _2 days later_  

 

 

Blackwell was buzzing with activity as Andreas strolled through with his suitcase and a backpack hanging from his left shoulder. Behind him, his older sister Rochelle, clad in blue denim shorts and a white crop top, carried his other two bags in both hands. He spotted Zach, Logan and several other jocks throwing a football around, and Trevor and Justin loitering around with skateboards in hand.

It seemed most others had moved in earlier judging by how many people were just hanging around outside, but Rochelle hadn’t managed to get a day off work until today to help Andreas move in.

As they approached the Prescott dormitories, Andreas turned to face his sister and smiled.

“Hey thanks for the help, by the way, I know you’re super busy with work and all.”

“No problem bro, Mum and Dad couldn’t even be arsed to see you off, so someone had to,” said Rochelle with a bright smile.

Andreas’ smile only grew wider. It did sound sappy, but he was genuinely happy that his sister was around. With their parents always being distant, from a young age it had always been Andreas and Rochelle against the world. When their parents were away on a business trip (which was quite often) she would be the one to organise meals, and to get him ready for school.

“Yeah, well, I never expected those wankers to show up anyway,” said Andreas lightly, turning back to the entrance of the boy’s dorms and opening the door. “I’d rather have you here with me anyway.”

“Aww, you big softie,” teased Rochelle, following her brother inside.

They walked down the corridor of the boy’s dorm, until they reached room 112. “This is the one sis.” He let go of the suitcase, letting it stand by itself, and Rochelle set down the two bags she was carrying.

“I think I can take it from here.”

“Well, alright then,” said Rochelle with a smile. She held out her arms expectantly, and Andreas rolled his eyes, taking a glance around to see whether anyone was around, which didn’t go unnoticed by his sister.

“Okay, I see how it is little brother,” she teased. “Don’t wanna embarrass yourself in front of your Vortex Club buddies.”

That made Andreas feel a little bad because she was partly right, but now he would feel like a dick if he didn’t go in for the hug, so instead he just laughed and took a step closer to his sister and wrapped her in a tight hug. She returned it, her head resting in his shoulder as he was several inches taller than her.

“Don’t miss me too much eh sis?”

“Same goes to you Andreas. Don’t go too wild with the partying this year.”

Andreas smirked as the two of them pulled out of the hug. “Me? Partying? Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“But seriously though, just because in you’re in the Vortex Club, doesn’t mean you have to go along with everything that they do.”

Andreas’ smirk disappeared as his sister’s expression shifted into something more serious.

“The Vortex Club used to be a safe space for people who were bullied by… Well by people like Victoria and Nathan.”

Andreas cringed internally, his sister rarely got serious like this, so he knew he wouldn’t be able to joke his way out of this one.

She was kind of right as well, Andreas had moved to Arcadia Bay from England when he was 15 so he had met Nathan and Victoria when they were all Sophomores at Blackwell. Victoria and Nathan had been quite high up in the Vortex Club hierarchy, and shortly after, it seemed to shift towards being a more elite club.

Andreas had been quite lucky in the fact that he’d hit it off with Nathan right away, so his entry to the Vortex Club had been fairly hassle free. The Prescott had been bullied at the time, because of the bad rep that his family name had in the bay. But with Andreas being completely new to the country, let alone Arcadia Bay, he had never heard of the Prescott family, and he was able to see the true Nathan behind all the angry outbursts and fits of violence.

He’d also made friends with Victoria relatively quickly and soon after, her, Andreas and Nathan became close friends. In a way they were similar people (as in they were rich kids with shitty parents). But as they’d gotten to their third year, he’d noticed that Victoria had gotten a little more malicious to kids not in the Vortex club, and that Nathan had turned from bullied to a bit of a bully himself, using his family name as an excuse to.

It’d made Andreas a little uneasy, but they _were_ two of the first friends he made at Blackwell and were by far his closest friends as well.

“C’mon sis, you know I’d never…” Andreas trailed off uncomfortably, not wanting to finish the sentence.

“Obviously, I know _you_ wouldn’t,” replied Rochelle, lips curving upwards into a tight smile. “But I just wish that you’d sometimes call out Victoria or Nathan when they’re being knobheads. They’ll listen to you.”

“Yeah… I’ll try sis.”

“Don’t just do it because I asked you to, do it because it’s right,” said Rochelle, placing a hand on his shoulder, a more reassuring smile on her face.

Andreas knew that she was right. He hated conflict, but sometimes Nathan and Victoria, and some Vortex Club members, would go too far.

“Yeah, I promise I’ll try,” he said with more conviction, and he gave his sister a grin, despite his internal conflict on the issue.

“Good. That’s all I ask Andreas.”

She held out her arms again and this time he didn’t hesitate to pull her into a quick hug. “Love you sis. You’ll come visit one weekend, right?”

“Of course I will bro,” said Rochelle, pulling back from the hug and beaming at Andreas. “Love you too.”

“Alright, get home safe yeah?”

His sister gave him a two-finger salute, and she turned around and began to walk to the exit. She gave him one last wave as she rounded the corner, and then she was gone.

Andreas turned to face his dorm room, taking a deep breath.

“Well alright. Let’s do this...”

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

After he’d unpacked and set up most of his stuff several hours later, Andreas flopped down onto his bed, exhausted. He’d set up his Xbox and PC on the desk, his electric guitar was on a stand in the front left corner of the room, and various posters of his favourite bands had been strewn up on every wall. He reached out onto his bedside table to grab his phone as he heard it buzz, and when he checked it, he saw that he’d gotten two texts from Nathan.

 **Nate:** Yo

 **Nate:** Me n Vic r goin Tob 2 smoke

Andreas shot back a quick reply that he was on his way, and he slowly got off his bed, groaning as he stretched out his back. He made his way out of dorms and into the courtyard of the school. He spotted several familiar faces; Dana, Juliet, Hayden and Brooke, as he walked over to the tobanga where Nathan and Victoria were standing.

The sun was just beginning to set, and Andreas took in the view of Blackwell being illuminated in orange. One thing that the US definitely beat the UK on was the weather.

“Hey, he’s finally here,” said Victoria with a smirk. “Welcome to the beginning of the best two years of our lives.”

Andreas laughed. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“My dad’s pumping more funds into the Vortex club, so we’re gonna be able to get absolutely fucked this year,” said Nathan, tossing his almost finished cigarette on the ground.

This made Andreas think back to his sister’s earlier words. On the one hand, a shit ton of Vortex Club parties sounded great, but on the other hand, there were so many other things the extra money could have been spent on. For a moment he contemplated bringing it up, but instead he just smiled and let out a noise of approval. _Sorry Rochelle._

“Oh, and that reminds me Andreas,” said Victoria. “If you see anyone from your Math classes that seem like Vortex Club material, let me know okay?”

‘Vortex Club material’ meaning good-looking, rich or popular basically.

“Looks like Vic is looking out for more boys to pounce on,” said Nathan, laughing loudly at his own joke.

“Oh my _God_ Nate, shut up,” said Victoria, irritation clear on her face.

“Well, she didn’t deny it,” said Andreas with a cheeky grin, joining in on the teasing.

Victoria flushed red as the two boys laughed at her expense. “You guys are such dicks, why do I even hang out with you?”

“It’s because you looooove us,” giggled Andreas, putting an arm around the Ice Queen. She tutted and pushed Andreas away roughly.

“That’s not exactly how I’d describe it.”

Victoria rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of a smile pulling up at the corner of her lips. Her expression shifted from annoyed to something more excited.

“Anyway, enough dicking around, I believe that Nathan had some news to share with us.”

Andreas and Victoria both turned expectantly to the Prescott boy, who bowed his head slightly and refused to make eye contact with them.

“It’s no big deal really,” he muttered, staring at the ground. “You remember when I said that my dad was gonna get someone to help me with my photography?”

Andreas nodded, remembering what Nathan had told him when they had been outside his house on his birthday night.

“Well, it’s Mark fuckin’ Jefferson.”

Before Andreas could react to the news, Victoria had almost immediately gotten right up into Nathan’s face and grabbed his shoulders.

“No big deal?!” she shrieked. “Nathan, you have no idea how much I’d give to be in your position right now!”

Nathan struggled out of her grip, annoyance clear on his face. “Knock it off Vic, people are watching!”

Victoria quickly let go of Nathan, looking uncharacteristically sheepish as she realised that she was making a scene. However, she quickly regained her composure and she shot a glare towards the students who had stopped to watch her. Almost instantly, most of them began walking away, not wanting to risk the ‘Queen of Blackwell’s wrath. All except one person; a girl with a short brown hair and doe-like eyes.

Andreas hadn’t recalled seeing this girl before, so she must have been a new student. Well that, and the fact that she seemed to be completely oblivious to who Victoria Chase was. Unfortunately, Victoria seemed to spot the still-staring student.

“Um hello? Earth to weirdo, fuck off,” she said in typical fashion, waving an arm in front of her.

This seemed to snap the new girl to attention, and they quickly turned around and walked back towards the dorms. Andreas’ eyes lingered on her for a few more seconds, but Victoria had instantly gone back to her interrogation of Nathan.

“Seriously though Nathan, how can you not see how lucky you are?” hissed Victoria.

“Fuck, I dunno,” said Nathan, clearly getting more agitated. “I just don’t think my _dear_ father would do this for me out of the goodness of his own heart.”

Andreas frowned. While he agreed with Victoria that having someone as famous as Mark Jefferson help you with your photography, but he also agreed with Nathan that this was a little out of character for Sean Prescott.

“Anyway, he’s fucking coming here to teach photography, it’s not like he’s just coming here for me.”

“Well yeah, but you’re gonna get one on one time with him!”

“I didn’t fucking ask for it! Okay?”

Andreas could see Nathan’s hand twitching, so he quickly intervened, stepping up to the other two.

“Hey, let’s calm down a little here guys,” said Andreas, glancing nervously back and forth at his two best friends.

Victoria’s eyebrows were furrowed, the rich girl looking quite pissed off. Nathan was similarly looking pissed off, but with how red his face was, paired with his twitching hand, Andreas was much more concerned about the Prescott boy.

“Let’s not make any judgements until Mark Jefferson actually starts teaching here and mentoring Nathan, yeah?”

The tension of the situation slowly ebbed away, and Victoria rolled her eyes, while Nathan’s expression shifted into something calmer.

“Yeah, right… Sorry Nate.”

“Right. I’m sorry too…”

“It’s just… Mark Jefferson is like, my idol. He’s most of the reason why I decided to do the two-year senior program here.”

Nathan shuffled uncomfortably and looked at the ground. “Yeah, I get it Vic… I just need more fucking time to get my head straight.”

“You’re taking your meds, right?” asked Victoria, concern creeping into her voice.

“Yeah,” came the mumbled reply.

Victoria smiled. “Alright… That’s good.”

“Aww, we’re all friends again!” said Andreas with a grin, trying to lighten the mood.

His attempts fell flat though, as neither Nathan or Victoria laughed, and an awkward silence overtook them.

“I think I’m gonna head back to my room,” muttered Nathan, not waiting for a response as he started to stride quickly towards the dorms.

Andreas concernedly watched him walk off, and he then turned to Victoria who was observing Nathan’s retreating figure with a worried expression.

“I didn’t… didn’t mean to get him all worked up like _that._ ”

“I know you didn’t Vic.”

Andreas sympathetically put a hand on her shoulder. He could feel the tenseness ease away slightly as Victoria smiled tightly, but the smile barely lasted for a second before a solemn look overtook her face again.

“I think, I’m gonna call it a night.”

Andreas forced a smile onto his face. “Alright Vic, night.”

As Victoria walked back to the dorms just as Nathan had done a minute earlier, Andreas shivered as a cool breeze blew through Blackwell. This was not exactly the way he’d seen their first day back at Blackwell going.

For a moment, he just stood there, lost in his own thoughts. No doubt, the three of them would be back to normal tomorrow, but that didn’t remove the fact that this was Nathan and Victoria’s third argument since Nathan’s birthday. Victoria had always acted a little bit like a mother to Nathan at times, which could lead to her being a little smothering, but it was clearly out of concern for his wellbeing. But three outbursts from Nathan in less than a week was unusual and quite worrying.

His thoughts were interrupted, as out of the corner of his eye, he saw that brown-haired girl from earlier staring at him. _What the hell is this chick’s problem?_

Andreas began to march towards the curious girl, who jumped and began looking for somewhere to escape to.

“Hey!” called Andreas, quickening his pace so that the girl wouldn’t be able to get away. Her eye’s widened as she stood there, rigid until Andreas was in front of her.

“Didn’t your parents tell you that it’s rude to stare?”

“Uh, I-I…”

Andreas smirked as the girl stuttered under his gaze. “Just a word of advice, since I’m guessing you’re new around here. Don’t get on Victoria Chase’s bad side, or Nathan Prescott’s. Although you might already be on Vic’s.”

“Right… Well why exactly?” The new girl shifted her weight from one leg to the other, tightly grabbing her right arm with her left hand.

“You new to Arcadia Bay or something?” asked Andreas. “Everyone knows who the Prescott’s are. And the way that Victoria snapped at you should be reason enough.”

“I mean, I used to live here, but I moved to Seattle when I was 13,” said the girl awkwardly, her eyes not meeting his. “I only came back this year to start studying at Blackwell.”

“And you’d never heard of the Prescott’s while growing up?”

“Well, I’ve heard _of_ them, but they never really concerned me.” Then a nervous smile appeared on her face. “Anyway, _you_ don’t exactly sound like you’re from Arcadia Bay either.”

That made Andreas laugh. Despite her nervous appearance, this girl had some confidence behind her words.

“Well done Sherlock, how’d you figure that one out?” he said amusedly. “Anyway, just heed my warning and stay out of trouble, and you’ll be fine here.” He paused as she nodded slowly. “My name’s Andreas by the way.”

“Max.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Short for Maxine?”

“Yeah, but it’s Max, never Maxine.”

“Okay, Max-never-Maxine, it’s nice to meet you,” said Andreas with a smirk. He stepped past her and headed back towards the dorms without waiting for a response, before calling to Max over his shoulder.

“Welcome to Blackwell!”


	2. Party!

The first week back at Blackwell had just finished, and it was almost like Andreas had never left. For most of the week he’d spent the majority of his free time with Taylor in her room and hanging out with Victoria and Nathan around Arcadia Bay after their classes. He’d passed that Max girl several times in the hall, and she seemed to be hanging around with Kate Marsh a lot.

Kate was another new girl who seemed to earn the ire of Victoria. She was a Christian, and she’d already started posting fliers about an abstinence campaign, as well as trying to set up a bible study group. Unfortunately, this had led to her being mocked and ridiculed by several Vortex Club members, with Victoria as the ringleader.

Whenever Andreas had been around, he’d tried to get them to back off, but he didn’t do photography, or any art classes for that matter, so unfortunately Kate was at Victoria and Taylor’s mercy during those classes. Guilt gnawed away at Andreas as he thought about it; he should have been doing more to stop it. He _knew_ that both those girls were good people deep down, but with Victoria’s insecurities and Taylor’s willingness to do anything to please Victoria, it didn’t often show in public.

He shook those thoughts out of his head, as he walked towards the dorms after a long day of calculus and algebra. Trevor and Justin were trying to perfect the kickflip near the entrance, Daniel DaCosta was sat sketching away on his notepad under a tree, and Evan and Rachel Amber were sitting near the fountain looking at the former’s portfolio.

Rachel Amber… Andreas’ past with her had been… something. They’d dated for a few months a year ago and while at first, she’d seemed almost perfect, he felt like he never really _knew_ her properly. It was almost as if she was around long enough for Andreas to feel comfortable with her, but not long enough for Andreas to get too close to her. They were still friends, but ever since Rachel had broken up with him, it was safe to say Victoria was _not_ her biggest fan.

As Andreas approached the entrance to the dormitories, he spotted Victoria sitting on the steps. He was surprised to see her in conversation with Max Caufield because the two girls weren’t exactly on good terms, but as he neared, he could detect the hostility in his friend’s voice.

“-can take more than just selfies, then maybe I’ll actually consider the fact that you belong here.”

Andreas winced. Victoria was not holding back on the new girl at all. Ever since the first day of classes, Max had seemed to earn the ire of the ‘Queen Bee’ of Blackwell. From what Andreas could gather, Mark Jefferson had taken an early interest in Max, and this had almost definitely flared the jealous streak he saw so often in Victoria.

“Look Victoria, I just wanna get back to my room,” said Max. “It’s been a long day and I just need to rest.”

Andreas decided it was time to step in before Victoria could retort. “Hey Vic, I hope you’re not bullying the new kid,” he said with a smirk.

Victoria narrowed her eyes, but her voice wasn’t as harsh now. “Of course not, I’m just having a chat with Maxine here about how things work around here.”

Andreas looked over to Max. “Huh. Is that right Max?” 

“Y-yeah,” said Max, biting her lip.

“Well if that’s the case, surely putting her on the guestlist for the Vortex Club party tomorrow would be a great way to introduce Max to how things work at Blackwell,” said Andreas with a shit-eating grin.

The glare that he got from Victoria was almost poisonous, but Max was the one to speak up first.

“U-uh that’s alright thanks Andreas, parties aren’t really my kind of thing.”

The answer didn’t really surprise Andreas because Max didn’t look like one for parties, but maybe getting her more involved in the Vortex Club would do a lot for her confidence.

_Oh yeah, because why wouldn’t she want to join a club that looks down on her?_

“Well, I’ll put you on anyway, and you can decide whether you want to give it a try or not,” he said with a smile.

“I really don’t think I’ll be going, but thanks anyway,” said Max, a half guilty, half grateful expression on her face.

The brown-haired girl shuffled past Victoria, who made no move to block her. Andreas smiled sheepishly as Victoria kept her glare on him.

“Nice to see you’re making friends with the losers.”

“Hey, Max isn’t that bad.”

“She’s some stupid hipster girl who acts like she’s above everyone else,” spat Victoria. “Like Jefferson seems to be interested in her more than anyone, and she’s _acting_ like she _doesn’t_ like the attention!”

Andreas frowned. It was clear that Vic was jealous of the attention the new girl was getting, and her insecurities were showing.

“Hey Vic,” said Andreas firmly. “You’re a fucking top photographer, and you shouldn’t need some guy’s attention to tell you otherwise.”

Victoria’s expression softened, and she let out a sigh. “Mark Jefferson is my idol Andreas. I just want him to take as much interest in me that he does in Max.”

“So let your art do the talking, and if he can’t spot how good you are, then fuck him, I don’t care how good or famous he is.”

Before Victoria could reply, Andreas crouched down closer to her and pulled her into a hug. He felt her tense up for a moment, before relaxing again and lightly putting her arms around him. He made a note to himself to not prolong the hug too long, as he expected Victoria to not want to show her vulnerable side in front of other students.

“Thanks, Andreas.”

“No worries Vic.”

 

* * *

 

 

 

_Next day_

Since classes had only started for a few days, Andreas didn’t have much homework to do over the weekend, so he spent most of the day on his Xbox. Just as he ended his _FIFA_ match, his phone rang from his bed.

Groaning, Andreas slid off the sofa and crawled over onto the bed, seeing Victoria’s name on the phone display.

Andreas put the phone to his ear. “Hey Vic, what’s up?”

“Andreas!!” He heard giggling in the background and assumed that Victoria was already pre-drinking with Taylor and Courtney. “You’d better be getting ready, you and Taylor need to walk in together!”

“I’ve not even showered yet Vic, there’s like two hours until the party starts.” Andreas had gotten off the floor at this point, and he picked up a towel with his phone still to his ear.

“Well just hurry up!” There was some sort of scuffle, before Taylor’s voice came through the phone.

“Andreas! I wanna see your pretty face so hurry up!”

Andreas smiled as he heard her giggle. “Alright Tay, I’ll get ready now just for you.”

He heard her blow a few kisses into the phone, and Andreas couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. Then Victoria spoke up again.

“Seriously though, hurry up, these two losers are already borderline drunk.”

Andreas smirked and rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry Vic, I’ll be over in 20 minutes.”

He hung up and set his phone down on his desk, before heading out of his room towards the communal bathrooms, which were currently empty.

Ten minutes later, Andreas had just finished in the shower, wrapped a towel round his waist and was about to step out when he heard the door open and two people walk in. He heard Taylor’s name being mentioned and he froze, his heart sinking.

“So, Taylor’s totally down to get it on again tonight, she said she should be able to sneak away at some point.” That was the voice of Colt Weston, arguably the biggest cunt in the whole Vortex Club, and one of the few members that Andreas genuinely couldn’t stand.

“Man, I can’t believe what you guys are doing behind Andreas’ back,” said the other voice, this belonging to Zachary.

“She’s way out of his league, half the reason that they’re dating is ‘cos Andreas is tight with Victoria.”

Andreas could feel anger boiling inside him, but he tried his best to control his breathing to not alert the guys that he was there. He would rather confront Taylor about it, Colt could easily have been making it up to impress Zach.

The two boys stepped out of the bathroom a minute later. Andreas let out a breath that he didn’t realise he had been holding. The anger that he’d felt earlier was already ebbing away, the feeling replaced with a heaviness in his chest.

If Colt was telling the truth, that meant Taylor was _cheating_ on him. He contemplated not telling anyone and instead just keep an eye on Taylor throughout the party and catch her in the act. He eventually decided against that, feeling it would be too underhanded. He was better off just confronting her.

But as Andreas stepped outside with a towel wrapped round his waist, he saw Nathan about to enter his room.

“Yo Nath!” Andreas stepped forward to greet his friend, but as Nathan turned, Andreas’ eyes widened as he saw a large red mark on his cheek and eyes that were rimmed red from crying.

“D-Don’t look at me like that!” Nathan snapped, although his voice wasn’t as harsh as it could have been.

“Shit…” He took hold of Nathan’s arm gently and led him into Andreas’ room.

Andreas quickly got changed into some jeans and a white-and-black- checkered shirt, before turning back to face Nathan.

“Sean?” asked Andreas quietly, hoping Nathan wouldn’t be too volatile.

Nathan didn’t say or do anything but the expression that he made when his father’s name was mentioned told Andreas that it certainly was Sean Prescott who’d smacked his son in the face. _What a fucking shithead._

Before Andreas could say anything else, Nathan pulled out several small baggies from his jacket pocket. He took one which was filled with white powder and walked over to Andreas’ desk.

“Not that I’m telling you what to do…” said Andreas carefully, not wanting Nathan to lash out. “But are you sure that’s the best idea?”

Nathan didn’t turn to look at Andreas, instead tipping a bit of the powder onto the desk and arranging it into a thin line with a card. “Look, I just wanna forget about what happened and get absolutely shit-faced.” He bent down and snorted the powder up his nostril.

Andreas then remembered about Taylor and Colt, and suddenly, the prospect of spending the night getting completely wasted with Nathan didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“Well, save some for me then,” said Andreas, taking the baggy from Nathan. “There’s some things that I’d rather forget about as well.”

 

* * *

 

 

 

Andreas and Nathan spent the next two hours taking swigs from a litre bottle of Vodka and doing a couple more lines. He had several missed calls from Taylor and Victoria, partly because Andreas was too fucked to answer, and partly because he just wanted to avoid Taylor for as long as possible. He’d sent Vic a single text which simply said, ‘ _go without me’._

At the present moment, Andreas and Nathan were stumbling over to the party venue, ninety minutes after the start time. It was a bit of a trek but neither of them were in any state to drive so they’d have to walk. There was a warehouse on the outskirts of Arcadia Bay which belonged to Sean Prescott. It was an almost perfect location because it was far away enough from the town that there would be no noise complaints, and since it belonged to Sean Prescott, the cops would only show up to make sure nothing from outside disturbed the party, and they wouldn’t shut it down lest they invoked the wrath of Nathan’s dad.

Soon, Andreas could hear the muffled sounds of techno music in the distance, and he could just about make out the warehouse in the distance, illuminated by several lights cast over it.

“So anyway,” said Nathan, his speech slightly slurred. “Why are you getting wasted tonight?”

“Oh, nothing much,” said Andreas, unable to keep the bitterness out of his tone. His high from the cocaine had already passed and now he just felt cold and depressed, and the alcohol was only making his co-ordination worse. “Taylor probably cheated on me, and is gonna cheat on me again, that’s all…”

“Oh shit,” said Nathan. “Just like Rach- “

Nathan had cut himself off, but the damage had already been done.

Nathan and Victoria (mostly Vic) were completely convinced that Rachel Amber had cheated on Andreas before she broke up with him. They’d mentioned seeing her hanging around a lot with Chloe Price, that punk girl who’d been kicked out of Blackwell some time ago. And while Andreas had known about their friendship, he’d never had any reason to believe that they were anything more. He was almost certain that they were very close, if not dating, now, but there was no proof that had happened before Rachel dumped him.

“Ah whatever, forget about it, let’s get fucking hammered!” said Andreas, as the two boys finally reached the warehouse entrance. He made a mental note to avoid the VIP room, where Taylor would most likely be.

Andreas could see several people outside smoking, and slightly further out in the car park sat a single patrol car, containing Officer Berry and another officer.

He cursed as he saw the blue hair of Chloe Price, and said girl was currently leaned against the warehouse, cigarette in hand, and her head resting on Rachel’s left shoulder.

“Andreas! It’s not like you to be late to a Vortex Club party!” Rachel chirped as she saw the boys approaching, taking a couple of steps towards them, forcing Chloe to stand up straight again. The punk girl stood awkwardly behind Rachel as she greeted Andreas and Nathan.

“And Nathan! How are you doing?” She merely got a half-smile and grunt from the Prescott boy.

The upbeat sound of Rachel’s voice almost cheered Andreas up, but the thought of former love interests only kept putting images of Taylor and Colt making out in his head.

“Hey Rachel,” said Andreas, trying to sound nonchalant, even when his head was swirling with thoughts. “Nate and I might have gotten a little carried away with the pre-drinking.”

“And the cocaine,” said Nathan with a smirk.

Rachel laughed warmly, her nose crinkling. “Well, don’t let me stop you from having a good time! I’ll come back inside soon, once I’ve kept Chloe here company for a while longer.”

Andreas smiled weakly and followed Nathan inside the warehouse. Immediately the music and lights assaulted his senses, and it took him several moments to adjust properly. He continued to follow Nathan towards the bar, and while Nathan tried to get the bartenders attention, Andreas turned around to scan the room.

There was a massive turnout, and bodies absolutely packed the dancefloor. The DJ was on a raised platform on the opposite side of the room to the bar. In front of the platform, half of the concrete floor had been replaced with some sort of vinyl flooring; this was used for the dancefloor. Off to the opposite side of the entrance, to the left of the dancefloor, was a door, and behind it was the Vortex Club VIP area.

Hands were in the air; girls were swaying their hips in time to the music. Good vibes were flowing like a virus (a good one) through the air, all hyped up and ready to give everyone a good time. It was almost infectious, and Andreas could feel his mood lift ever so slightly.

Andreas’ attention was brought back to the bar, where the bartender had laid out 10 shot glasses of vodka in front of them.

“Alright, 5 each, let’s do this!” Nathan immediately slammed down two shot glasses, and Andreas followed suit, wincing each time after the liquid went down his throat, the burning sensation just slightly tickling his throat. When both boys had finished, the bartender set down two plastic cups full of dark liquid, probably a drink with coke as a mixer. Andreas picked one up and took a sip, and he tasted rum and coke as the liquid went down his throat.

“I’m gonna go hit the dancefloor, you coming?” asked Nathan, picking up his own drink. The Prescott boy seemed much more relaxed now, his expression much lighter than before. The tenseness that was often present on his face was absent, replaced with an almost contented bliss.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Victoria and Taylor, headed towards the bar. Andreas inwardly cursed, he had kind of been banking on Vic and Taylor staying in the VIP area. They hadn’t noticed him yet, but Andreas wasn’t going to stick around much longer. While a few hours ago, the thought of dancing with Taylor would make him feel almost giddy, now he could barely think of it without feeling nauseous.

“Yeah, let’s go,” said Andreas hurriedly, glancing over at the girls once more in order to make sure they hadn’t spotted him.

He pushed himself up off the bar where he’d been leaning and headed over to the swirling mass of bodies on the dancefloor. He shoved past several people, being careful not to spill his drink, and making sure Nathan was following. As they got closer to the front, the music got louder, and the people got packed closer together. Andreas could already feel a layer of sweat on his skin, and he wasn’t sure if all of it was his.

As they got sufficiently close to the front, Andreas felt the alcohol kick in and let out a whoop. He felt his body getting much looser, and he danced in time with the music. He had one hand raised up in the air while he swayed and tapped his foot. He took a big sip out of his cup and let out another whoop and grinning at Nathan.

The two boys stayed where they were, losing themselves to the music. The alcohol had significantly lowered Andreas’ inhibitions, and he found his dancing getting wilder and more uncoordinated as he lost himself to the music. The bright lights were almost blinding, he felt like he could see them even when he had his eyes closed.

He then felt a tap on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to see Nathan holding out a baggy, a different one this time, containing several brightly coloured pills. Andreas looked questionably at Nathan, as bodies around them occasionally bumped into him.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I don’t think we should be mixing.” Andreas had to shout loud over the pounding bass of the Chemical Brothers song that was currently playing.

“Hey, we’re here to get absolutely fucked and forget about our problems!” shouted Nathan, taking two pills out before shoving the bag back in his pocket. He popped one in his mouth before holding out a green one to Andreas. “You’ll feel fucking amazing!”

The alcohol had already made the decision for Andreas, overpowering any concerns that he had in his head. He grabbed the pill and used the last of his drink to help wash it down.

_‘Might as well go all out,’_ thought Andreas, as he waited for the drugs to hit.

Half an hour later, Andreas started to feel lightheaded, his heart thumping against his chest. He turned to Nathan with a grin, feeling himself coming up. The Prescott was all smiles, and it filled Andreas’ heart with joy at seeing this. Nathan hadn’t been smiling much, even less than usual, recently, and even though it was most likely because of the drugs, seeing his best friend happy amplified his own good mood tenfold.

Andreas stepped forward and wrapped Nathan in a hug, laughing.

“I love you man!” exclaimed Andreas, as he felt a hidden burst of energy being released inside him, making him feel alive and heightening all his senses.

He felt Nathan’s arms tighten round him for a moment before the two boys pulled apart. Andreas noticed Nathan’s pupils had properly dilated, the blue of his eyes practically engulfed by the black.

“This is so sick brah!” said Nathan, a wide grin on his face.

Andreas nodded in agreement as he almost became one with the music and the lights. Intense emotions of bliss and love overtook him as he swayed with the music. His head felt light, and he enjoyed the feeling of warmth spreading over his body.

He could only describe his overall state as euphoric. It only grew more intense as time went on, his synapses jumping like beans in a tin, and Andreas had so much energy that he felt like he could dance the whole night and then some. The lights swirled around, invading his vision and adding to the feeling. The bass of the music carried its way through his entire body which fuelled his carefree dancing.

Suddenly, a new sensation surfaced from his stomach, and Andreas realised that he was starting to feel nauseous. The euphoria he was experiencing earlier was still present, but the feeling of wanting to throw up was starting to overpower it. The music began to assault his ears, the loud sounds causing him to wince. The mass of sweaty bodies around him was almost suffocating; the lights weren’t helping either, and all these new unpleasant sensations attacking him so suddenly and all at once made him feel like he was going to hurl very soon.

Without saying anything to Nathan, Andreas turned and shoved his way past the surrounding crowd urgently. As he broke free and ran towards the exit, he passed Taylor and Colt at the bar. The former saw Andreas and tried to get his attention.

The sight of Taylor and the thought of what she and Colt would get up to was too much to deal with for Andreas, and he was already throwing up in his mouth as he made it out of the doors, tasting bitter liquid. He went up over to a part of the wall far away from the warehouse entrance, and finally emptied his stomach.

He hunched over, his hands resting on the wall, and retched several times, only liquid and stomach acid coming out. It was still dark, and the floodlights were still on; several people were outside smoking or making out, and they all turned to look at Andreas with expressions of pity or disgust.

As Andreas turned to glare at them, he spotted wide, blue, doe-like eyes looking straight at him from close by. Max Caufield stood near him, one hand reaching her auburn brown hair to adjust it, while the other hung limply by her side.

“Oh, hey Max, you came!” said Andreas. He still felt nauseous, but he felt a slight high still lingering from the pill he took, and he grinned as he stood up straight.

“Thought I’d ‘try and get out of my shell’, as Dana put it,” said Max with a nervous smile. “Are you okay?” Concern was etched on her face, and it seemed genuine.

“I mean, not really,” said Andreas with a brief laugh. “I took things way too far tonight I think.”

“You must have drunk a lot,” said Max, raising an eyebrow. Andreas found himself drawn towards her eyes. There was something about them that was so… expressive, like her emotions could be inferred purely by looking at her eyes. Currently there was a sort of uncertain glint to her eyes, as if she felt out of place and uncomfortable.

“Not just drinking,” said Andreas sheepishly with a smile. He shouldn’t have cared about what Max thought about his drug habits, but some reason he did.

“Ohh…” Max broke eye contact momentarily and shifted so she was leaning on her left leg, her arms now crossed.

“Yeah, I would have been fine but Nath decided it would be brilliant if we did coke and ecstasy in the same night so that didn’t help,” said Andreas with a short laugh.

“Y-yeah, that sounds pretty dangerous… I’m kind of surprised you agreed to.”

Andreas narrowed his eyes, although he kept his expression neutral. “What do you mean by that?”

Blue eyes widened and again Andreas found himself almost lost in them.

“Oh! I just… I didn’t- “

Andreas realised that his intense stare was making her uncomfortable and he dropped it.

“I just, well no offence to your friends, but you’re way nicer than most other Vortex Club members, so I thought- “

“You thought that I didn’t party as hard as them either?” interrupted Andreas with an amused grin. “Well, I’m sorry to say that’s not true, though it was still a stupid mistake to mix drugs on my part.”

Max let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, sorry.”

Andreas raised an eyebrow. “What for?”

“For assuming… y’know…” Max looked down at the floor, scuffing her shoes against the ground.

“Hey, no need to apologise,” said Andreas, trying to sound upbeat so that Max wouldn’t feel as awkward, despite at that moment feeling another uncontrollable urge to throw up. “I’m glad you think that highly of me, even though we’ve only spoken, like, twice.”

He could see Max relax slightly at his joke as she uncrossed her arms and let them hang at her sides, a shy grin on her face.

“Hey.” Andreas’ high had completely gone now, just replaced with nausea, and he wasn’t in a party mood anymore. “Want me to walk you back to Blackwell? I figure that you’re kind of over this party, and so am I to be honest.”

“Oh! Yeah,” said Max, looking surprised. “Sure, that’s kind of you.”

Before either of them could start to move, Andreas’ heart sunk to see Taylor and Victoria exit the warehouse and make a beeline towards him.

“Andreas!” called Taylor, her brow creased with worry.

“Shit,” said Andreas quietly, before looking back at Max. “Ignore them, let’s go now.”

But Max glanced back at the two approaching girls and hesitated, giving them enough time to reach Andreas.

“Andreas, are you okay?” asked Vic, looking at Andreas concernedly.

Taylor made a move to reach out to Andreas, but he backed off with a frown as he finally properly faced Taylor for the first time since he’d found out she cheated on him. A look of hurt appeared on her face as Andreas moved away from her. This satisfied a small, malicious part of Andreas.

“I’m fine,” said Andreas distractedly, as he began making small steps away from them. “I’m just gonna walk Max home now.”

“Andreas!” This time Victoria’s tone was firmer, her eyes narrow. “What is going on with you? You completely blew us off earlier and now you’re leaving without even saying anything to us! Taylor was really looking forward to partying with you.”

Andreas felt anger rising inside him, threatening to spill out, but he tried his best to maintain his composure. “I’m sure Taylor would have managed fine without me,” he spat. “Now she can get off with Colt without having to do it behind my back.”

Andreas’ voice had risen during the last sentence, and he was met with three different expressions at once. Victoria was staring at Andreas with her mouth hanging open; tears were starting to come out of Taylor’s eyes, guilt etched in her expression, while Max was looking like she would rather be anywhere than here.

Andreas couldn’t stand it any longer, and he turned away and began his walk home. He turned his head to look over his shoulder at Max. “You coming?”

After a short pause, Max’s legs went into motion, and she followed after Andreas, her pace quickening to catch up with him.

Seeing Taylor had gotten Andreas all worked up again, although he was a bit glad that he’d finally said something about the situation. But there was an empty feeling inside of him as he walked away from the warehouse, dark thoughts swirling around his mind and making his head ache.

Max’s voice piped up quietly after a few minutes of silence. “If you wanna vent or whatever…” She left the sentence hanging, but the intention was clear.

“Not now,” hummed Andreas quietly, as he turned to smile at Max, despite the whirlwind of emotions he was feeling. “Thanks though.”

“No problem.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so it's been a while since I visited this fic, but after reading several LIS fics recently I've been inspired to continue this story. I know it's started off pretty slow but the plot is gonna speed up hopefully within the next couple of chapter!
> 
> Also another thing, I am in no way trying to glorify taking drugs or anything like that, but as a student myself sometimes I just find myself going into a little too much detail about the partying side of things. There will be less of that as the plot progresses, but obviously I imagine there's a lot of drugs and heavy drinking at Vortex Club parties, so just trying to set a realistic scene.


End file.
